Is It Time To Hit The Panic Button?

2010 was the best season Denny Hamlin has ever had. He had more wins in that 36 race period than he'd had total up to that point.  He had his highest point standings of his career and was just 15 points shy of winning a Championship and dethroning Jimmie Johnson.  It was a bitter pill to swallow.

Coming into 2011, revenge was not only on the minds of every fan of the #11 FedEx Toyota and its driver, it was also on the mind of Denny Hamlin and his entire crew.  Hamlin has said repeatedly that this was his year.

Enter Daytona, its expectations and the clean slate that lay ahead of a team ready to redeem itself and show the haters and doubters that they were more than capable of knocking the 48 off its pedastal, but they could also do it in exceptional fashion. 

The Budweiser Shootout was just for fun but starting 4th and finishing 12th was a sneek peak of what was to come.  Hamlin's Gatorade Duel Race saw him starting 22nd and working his way up to an 8th place finish.  Maybe this season was starting off exactly the way he'd hoped.  Then came the Daytona 500.  Trevor Bayne saw his lifelong dream come true and Hamlin finished a lap down in 21st.  He was 19th in the point standings, 18 points behind leader Carl Edwards.  Not exactly the way JGRs eldest driver wanted things to end up.

There have been ups and downs, gains and losses in the points and frustrations have lead to rumors of a crew chief swap.  Denny Hamlin adamantly declares that Mike Ford is his guy and if there's no Ford, there's no Hamlin.  The loyalty and trust between this duo is rock solid even if the performance isn't exactly guaranteeing visits to victory lane.

Is it time to hit the panic button? NO! Is it time to buckle down and focus on whatever it will take to deliver the victories this team is capable of? YES!  If I had just one thing to say to the #11 team it would be "Get off your pity pot Nancy and deliver on your potential!"  No more excuses, no more distractions!  If there's a problem, spend every waking hour finding a way to fix it. If there is something or someone holding you back, eliminate it! 

Those of us who believe in Denny Hamlin, Mike Ford and the #11 FedEx team support ALL of them no matter what.  Is it easier to support them through victories and top 10s? Of course, but win or lose we are sporting our gear, screaming til we're hoarse and weathering the storms.  Floods are devastating...unless they're champagne and Gatorade flowing out of Victory Lane.